Spbotg-clamp for clothes-fists



UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

E. S. HASKINS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPRING-CLAMP FOB, CLOTHES-PINS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,635, dated March 14, 1854.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. 'S. HASKINS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Pins; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a view of the pin with the jaws closed. Fig. 2, a similar view with the jaws open. Fig. 8, a view of the two halves of the pin detached from each other.

The clothes pin -now most generally in use, which consists of two legs united at the top to the body of the pin, is an imperfect instrument and liable to many objections, the most serious of which is their liability to fall from the line, by which the pin is lost and the clothes are either torn or soiled. To remedy this inconvenience a pin was contrived consisting oftwo pieces united together in the middle by a wire hinge. Between two contiguous ends of these pieces was placed a wire spring which forced them apart and at the same time closed the opposite ends upon each other which served as jaws to embrace the line. This formed a very effective clothes pin for a time, but it was found that the metallic spring was liable to be forced out of place, while the wire which formed the hinge being necessarily small was soon broken, when the two halves of the pin were thrown apart by the force of the spring which closedthe jaws. To avoid all these objections I have contrived my improved clothes pin in which there is neither hinge nor metallic spring, the spring made use of to close the jaws being so applied as to hold the two halves of the spring at all times together.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I Wlll proceed to describe its construction and operatlon.

A and B are the two halves of the clothes pm, the former having at its center the barrel or circular projector C, whichplays E1 the corresponding groove D of the piece 8 are grooves in the jaws f for the purpose of receiving and holding the line when the clothes pin is used.

g is a band of india rubber which is passed over the ends of the jaws and is .recelved into notches made for the purpose. This band forms a strong spring for the purpose of closing the jaws as in Fig. 1. When used the ends it arepressed together by the thumb and finger as in Fig. 2, and the pin is then placed upon the line, the band 9 closing the jaws and holding 'securely whatever is between them.

Among the advantages offered by my clothes pin over any other heretofore in use may be enumerated, economy of construction, simplicity and durability, the india rubber itself being very durable and being so placed as to hold the other parts securely together, while the spring in those heretofore constructed tended constantly to throw the parts asunder.

I do not claim uniting the two parts of a clothes pin by a hinge and closing the jaws by introducing a spiral or other spring between the opposite en-dsof the levers; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

The, combination of the barrel C, the groove D and the elastic band 9 of india rubber or other suitable substance, by whichmeans the different parts of the clothes pin are held together securely by the same spring which closes the jaws, instead of requiring a separate device for the purpose as has heretofore been the case. Q

EDl/VARD S. HASKINS. In presence of CANSTEN BROWN, H. B. SPINNEY. 

